This episode points out well Taichi’s role in the team. Apart of being a reasonably good player himself (though he still hasn’t made class A), Taichi is the mental strength of the team. He knows exactly the strengths and weaknesses of his teammates and monitor their progress while playing his own match. That’s a good thing and so far has helped Mizusawa team, but that’s also Taichi’s weakness. Now that the enemy’s coach is last year’s finalist against Master, he knows Taichi’s role in the team and try to use it to gain the upper-hand.